The marsh and its undergrowth of papyrus doesn't seem to be part of the scene of Merefnebef in his boat. Rather, it presents itself as an insert, with only one small connection, that of the front of the vizier's boat and a small skiff in front of it using it as a background. However, the freshness of these old colours, of 4500 years (45 centuries) can only be marvelled at. It is truly brilliant ...!

The tomb of Merefnebef was discovered in 1997 on the site of Saqqara, by a team from The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the Warsaw University, controlled by Prof. Karol Myśliwiec. The discovery followed two years of location work on the terrain, notably geophysical, followed by surveys.

During the excavations at Deir el Medine B. Bruyère [size=undefined][5][/size] discovered a small, somewhat anthropomorphous coffin made of clay which contained the remains of a praying mantis wrapped in linen.

[size=undefined]Ink drawing of praying mantis on papyrus[/size]

Praying mantises are but rarely mentioned in the texts. In the following passage from a Book of the Dead version the translation of Ab.yt has also been interpreted to mean 'dancer', in another version of the passage (pBM EA 10477) an Abyt-bird is possibly referred to:

Citación :

I have gone to the king passing by my house. It was the Ab.yt which came to fetch me.